A LIVE ONLINE CLASS SERIES

WISDOM OF THE MOVING BODY

Paula Josa-Jones CMA, MSME/T, SEP

Amy Matthews MSME/T

• Five Saturdays
• January 11, 18, 25 February 1 & 8 from 11 am - 2 pm ET
• Please find your local time for this event HERE.
• Registration Deadline: January 4, 2025

WISDOM OF THE MOVING BODY is an experiential, 5-session course designed for movement educators and therapists, somatic practitioners, body workers and psychotherapists who wish to bring movement practices more fully into their work. Skills covered in this class will build confidence in participants’ ability to integrate movement as a tool for both deepening embodiment and supporting trauma recovery by expanding their somatic movement understanding, vocabulary and practice.
In learning to move from the body's innate rhythms and impulses, we open to deeper expressivity and vitality. Grounding experience in the moving body dissolves the separation between inner and outer and deepens the connection to ourselves. Conscious movement, breath, touch, sound and imagery allow us to sense and feel ourselves and others with greater clarity and curiosity.  

This course is experiential and interactive, offering an opportunity to dive into our questions in a playful, open-hearted way. Albert Einstein says that play is the highest form of research! How can we find more playfulness in our bodies? In our minds?

Some of the modalities included in this class:  

• Fundamentals of Laban Movement Analysis 
• The practice of Authentic Movement  
• Deep Listening strategies of composer Pauline Oliveros and how they inform our responses to stimuli  
• Perspectives from Body-Mind Centering® 
• Perspectives drawn from Somatic Experiencing®  
• The anatomy of trauma including the basics of the threat response cycle  
• Touch skills and improvisational strategies supporting playfulness and curiosity with movement. 

Participants will learn to:  

• Build skill and confidence in your ability to integrate movement into your therapeutic or teaching practice. 
• Understand the fundamentals of the anatomy of trauma and Somatic Experiencing®. 
• Explore questions of dominance in relationship to our own bodies and the bodies of others, including other species. 
• Understand how movement awareness can enhance your observational and relational skills, including attunement and co-regulation. 
• Learn how to bring both improvisational and intentional somatic movement perspectives and insights to your practice. 

Live participation is encouraged, but those who register in advance will have access to the recording after the event is completed.  

Paula Josa-Jones

CMA, MSME/T, SEP

Paula Josa-Jones is a dance artist, choreographer, author, somatic movement educator and therapist, who brings an improvisational perspective to all her work including choreography for humans, inter-species work with horses, dancers and riders, film and video. Much of Josa-Jones's solo work arises from her own experience of being gender non-binary, and dance explorations of the complex architecture of identity and expression. Her background includes deep research into somatics, improvisation, Deep Listening, Somatic Experiencing®, the anatomy of trauma, Body-Mind Centering®, equine studies, Authentic Movement, and somatic psychology. www.paulajosajones.org

My intention in developing this course is to share perspectives from more than 45 years of embodied exploration: experiences that have shaped my work, as well as practices that I have found to be revelatory and transformative in my creative, teaching and private practice.

Amy Matthews

MSME/T

Amy Matthews has been teaching movement workshops and courses in the US and internationally since 1994. Integrating experiential anatomy, kinesiology, embryology and developmental movement with inquiries into pedagogy, educational philosophy and movement practices, she has taught on somatic certification programs and in a variety of university and studio settings.

Amy is a Body-Mind Centering® Teacher, an Infant Developmental Movement Educator, and a Certified Movement Analyst. She co-founded Babies Project with Sarah Barnaby, and co-authored the book Yoga Anatomy. She is currently based in Maine. www.movementpractices.com